Special moments when I need a hanky and a little lie down

Occasionally in an author’s daily life there are moments that mean a lot. Like, a LOT.

Yep! I’m happy as the proverbial…

I love (absolutely love) getting reviews. I am still a ‘young’ author, not in years, but in books and length of time published, so I haven’t had many reviews. I have a few good and no bad at the moment. This will hopefully change because I know lots of reviews, both good and bad, mean a lot of people are reading my book. Hopefully the good will outweigh the bad. But my point is, I love reviews because it means people are reading my book.

But certain reviews and comments give me a huge boost.

1. The “I couldn’t put it down!”

Sometimes readers have described how they “couldn’t put” The Seventh down. That will never get old. They have told me how they hid from the kids so they could read, or read it late into the night. Some of my readers got the book and were halfway through within one sitting. WOW. *excited eyes*

2. “Creepy” or “spooky.”

I haven’t tried to make The Seventh too spooky but apparently some readers have found it to be so. How gratifying! There was definitely supposed to be some atmosphere in the story so I’m pleased some readers felt that. The sequel has (hopefully) much more spookiness in it. It’s always a wonderful thrill to know people FELT while they read.

3. “Oh my God, this is so intense!”

People engaging with story or characters … yay! One friend sent me blow-by-blow text messages. My dad told me where he was up to and that he was worried about the main character. Another friend said Mimi reminded her of her daughter, and yet another reader reminisced over teen awkwardness while she read it. My favourite kind of story is the one that pulls me in and lets me connect with a character or event, so this achievement is huge for me.

4. “I got caught up.”

My own mum said she forgot who the author was while she read it! Okay, she might be a little biased about this particular book, but hey I’ll take it.

These are my holy crap! moments. I adore writing fiction and treasure this feedback now that my first book-baby is out in the world. Sorry … but you’ve encouraged me now. I’m not gonna stop!